Rotary record equipment



Marh 1964 J. L. FULLER ET-AL 3,124,393

ROTARY RECORD EQUIPMENT Filed Jan. 17, 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS JAMES L. FULLER BY SAMUEL Asro- LOYD Arm,

March 1964 J. L. FULLER ETAL ROTARY RECORD EQUIPMENT 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed. Jaln. 17, 1963 INVENTOR5 ll JAMES L. FULLER SAMUEL Asrou Low March 10, 1964 J. FULLER ETAL 3,124,398

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, \\\\\\\\\\\'a I! R 4 a INVENTORS LEI! J MES L FULLER $AMUEL ASTON W0 I BY March 10, 1964 J. L- FULLER ETAL 3,124,398

ROTARY RECORD EQUIPMENT Filed Jan. 17, 1963 4 tset 4 INVENTORS JAMES FULLER BY SAMUEL sum LoYo ATTYS.

United States Patent 3,124,398 RQTARY RECORD EQUIPMENT James L. Fuller and Samuel Aston Loyd, Waynesboro, Va, assignors to Acme Visible Records, Inca, Crozet, Va., a corporation of Delaware Filed Jan. 17, 1963, Ser. No. 252,159 Claims. (Cl. 312-198) This invention relates to record filing devices.

More particularly the present invention relates to record filing and holding equipment of the rotary type mounted and actuatable for rotation in a horizontal plane and whereby record filing receptacles carried by the device or records contained therein may become readily accessible to a plurality of operators at stations disposed thereabout.

Although record filing devices of the foregoing class are in general known, it is a particular object of the present invention to provide a large diameter rotary file unit which may be moved in sections through standard size doors and readily erected in rooms in which the device is to operate.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide relatively large rotatable record filing unit devices which can be manufactured from standard size prefabricated components which are readily available and which may be conveniently and securely assembled for use or disassembled for removal, and for ease in transportation and handling.

The invention is characterized by the employment of a plurality of prefabricated truss members which can be conveniently bolted together to form a secure relatively large rotary file assembly, said trusses when assembled providing a profile to which record filing cabinets may in turn be quickly and conveniently secured and a plurality of desks for operators disposed thereabout.

Other objects of the present invention relate to details of construction, arrangement of parts, and economies thereof, and will be apparent from a consideration of the following specification and accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a record filing unit formed in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of a partial assembly of the components forming the device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of an adjacent pair of upper truss members and their outer connecting components.

FlG. 4 is a fragmentary side elevational view with parts in section illustrating the assembly of the present invention taken on the line 44 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary detailed plan view illustrating a driving roller and associated means in a pair of connected lower trusses for supporting and driving the circular base plate of the device of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view on the line 66 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary detailed view on the line 7-7 of FIG. 6.

Referring to the drawings, the reference numeral 10 designates a circular base plate which may be formed in one piece, or composed of a plurality of sections such as two hinged halves or a greater number of sections which can be secured together by associated plates and bolts for ready assembly and disassembly when the diameter of the base plate lll is such as to be larger than that which ordinarily passes through a conventional doorway.

This plate 10 is rotatably supported adjacent its outer periphery on a plurality of equi-angularly spaced rollers 11 which suitably are casters mounted in the holders 12 3,124,398 Patented Mar. 10, 1964 on legs 13. The legs 13 are components of trusses, designated herein as the lower trusses, and comprise a horizontal component 14 and the inclined component 15, the latter two being secured together on the plate 16 at one end as by welding, and at their opposed spaced ends to the leg 13 as shown in FIG. 6.

FIG. 6, however, shows a driven roller one or more of which may be employed for rotating the base plate 10 by frictional association therewith, the roller being herein designated as 11' and supported on the leg 13 by the plate assembly 17. This roller 11 is driven through the motor 18 and associated speed reducing mechanism 19 which rotates the roller 11 through the associated sprockets 20 and 21 and the sprocket chain 22, this indicated driving mechanism being conventional.

The connecting plate 16 of the lower truss member comprising the components 13, 14 and 15, is secured to the annular plate 23 which carries the hub 24. A plurality of the aforementioned lower truss members are bolted to the plate 23 so that they extend radially and equi-angularly spaced thereabout. They are suitably further secured together by means of truss rods 25 which are anchored in plates 26 secured to the legs 13 and retained by means of bolts 27. The rotatable plate 10 carries axially an annular plate 28 which has welded thereto a depending shaft 29 which seats in the hub 24 and thus maintains the plate it) axially aligned with the supporting assembly.

Disposed on the plate 10 are plurality of upper truss members bolted thereto and extending radially thereof and in equi-angularly spaced thereabout, these upper truss members comprising the horizontal components 30, vertical components 31, the inclined component 32, and desirably at least one intermediately inclined component 33. The components 31, 32 and 33 are secured to the block 34 at their upper ends, and at their lower ends are secured to the blocks 35, 36 and 37 respectively, which in turn are secured to the horizontal component 30. The latter is suitably in the form of a channel so that the upper truss member can as a unit be bolted as at 38 to the base plate 10. The upper truss members are of a dimension such that they extend outwardly of the outer periphery of the plate 10 and are thereat connected to each other by means of chord members suitably in the form of angle iron components 39 and 40. The lower chord members 39 are suitably bolted by means of one leg to the base of the truss member components 30, and the chord members 40 are secured as by bolting to the truss blocks 34 by one leg as best shown in FIG. 4.

For reinforcement purposes, if desired, the upper chord members 40 may in turn be secured together by rods 41 extending across the top and between chord members 40.

Record filing compartments prefabricated as case units generally designated as 42 are then conveniently bolted as at 43 to the chord members 40, and to the chord members 39 as at 44 the compartments being desirably in the form of contiguous sectors so as to form a substantially continuous outer contour as shown best in FIG. 1.

It will be understood that the record filing compartments 42 may be made of various arrangements and provided with compartments disposed above one another and of varying types to suit the filing objects desired.

As further illustrated in FIG. 1, a plurality of desk sections each generally designated as 45 may be secured together so as to extend radially about the base of the unit, that is, about the lower truss assemblies to provide a plurality of operating stations correlated to the filing cases 42. It will also be understood that means are provided at each of the desks or operating stations such as the control buttons H indicated for hold, R for movement to the right, and L for movement to the left, as

3,124.,sas

shown in FIG. 1 on several of the desks 45. These control buttons are connected to the motor 18 for actuation thereof and rotation of the filing cases 42 mounted on the connected truss assemblies secured to the plate 10, whereby the record cabinet assembly may be rotated either clockwise or counterclockwise or held in a fixed position within the control of the operator, as well understood.

It will thus be seen that We have provided a novel rotary filing device which can be of relatively large size but which is composed of a plurality of pre-formed components which can be readily assembled or disassembled as the situation requires in a convenient manner, and although we have shown and described the preferred embodiment of our invention it will be understood to those skilled in the art that changes may be made in the details thereof without departing from the scope as comprehended by the following claims.

We claim:

1. A rotatable filing unit composed of a plurality of separable components and readily engageable, comprising a circular base plate, a plurality of equi-angularly spaced vertically disposed radially extending truss members each comprising a vertically disposed leg and a roller mounted on the upper end of each leg, said rollers collectively horizontally supporting said base plate, means for driving at least one of said roller whereby to rotate said base plate, a plurality of equi-angularly spaced vertically disposed radially extending upper truss members, means securing the latter to the upper face of said base plate, tie members secured to and extending between said upper truss members, means carried by the adjacent inner terminal end portions of the upper truss members engaged with companion means carried by the adjacent inner terminal ends of the lower truss members retaining said truss assemblies in axial alignment, the outer defines of the tie members for said upper truss members being adapted to support radially extending record filing receptacles.

2. A rotatable filing unit composed of a plurality of separable components, comprising a circular base plate, a plurality of equi-angularly spaced vertically disposed radially extending lower truss members each comprising a vertically disposed leg and a roller mounted on the upper end of each leg, said legs collectively and rotatably horizontally supporting said base plate, means for driving at least one of said rollers whereby to rotate said base plate, a plurality of equi-angularly spaced vertically disposed radially extending upper right angular truss members each including a horizontal component secured to the upper face of said base plate and a vertical component rising therefrom adjacent the periphery of said plate, tie members secured to and extending between said outer vertical components of the upper truss members, means carried by the adjacent inner terminal end portions of the upper truss members engaged with companion means carried by the adjacent inner terminal ends of the lower truss members retaining said truss assemblies in axial alignment.

3. A rotatable filing unit composed of a plurality of separable components, comprising a circular base plate, a plurality of. equi-angularly spaced vertically disposed radially extending lower truss members each comprising a horizontal component, an outer depending vertically disposed leg and a roller mounted on the upper end of each leg, said legs collectively and rotatably horizontally supporting said base plate on said rollers, means for driving at least one of said rollers whereby to rotate said base plate, a plurality of equi-angularly spaced vertically disposed radially extending upper truss members each including a horizontal component secured to the upper face of said base plate and a vertical component rising therefrom outwardly of the periphery of said plate, tie members secured to and extending between said upper truss member vertical component, means carried by the adjacent inner terminal end portions of the upper truss members engaged with companion means carried by the adjacent inner terminal ends of the lower truss members retaining said truss assemblies in axial alignment, and record filing means secured to the outer defines of said tie members.

4. A rotatable filing unit composed of a plurality of separable components, comprising a circular base plate, a plurality of equi-angularly spaced vertically disposed radially extending lower truss members each comprising a vertically disposed leg, a roller mounted on the upper end of each legs, a horizontal component and an annular tie member securing said horizontal components, said legs collectively and rotatably horizontally supporting said base plate, means for driving at least one of said rollers whereby to rotate said base plate, a plurality of equi-angularly spaced vertically disposed radially extending upper truss members secured to the upper face of said base plate, each including a horizontal component and an annular tie member for said horizontal components, a vertical component rising therefrom outwardly of the periphery of said plate, horizontal tie members secured to and extending between said upper truss member vertical component, means carried by the adjacent inner terminal end portions of the upper truss members engaged with companion means carried by the adjacent inner terminal ends of the lower truss members retaining said truss assemblies in axial alignment, and radially outwardly extending record filing means secured to the outer defines of said horizontally extending tie members.

5. A rotatable filing unit composed of a plurality of separable and readily engageable components, comprising a circular base plate, a plurality of equi-angularly spaced vertically disposed right angular radially extending lower truss members each comprising a vertically extending outwardly disposed leg and a roller mounted on the upper end of each leg, said legs collectively and rotatably horizontally supporting said base plate, means for driving at least one of said rollers whereby to rotate said base plate, a plurality of equi-angularly spaced vertically disposed radially extending upper right angular truss members, means securing one leg of each of said upper trusses to the upper face of said base plate with the other leg disposed outwardly of the periphery of said base plate and rising therefrom, tie members secured to and extending between said outer legs of said upper truss members, means carried by the adjacent inner terminal end portions of the upper truss members engaged with companion means carried by the adjacent inner terminal ends of the lower truss members retaining said truss assemblies in axial alignment, record filing means secured to the outer defines of the tie members for said upper truss members, and a plurality of fixed work stations disposed above said lower truss members.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 720,190 Stoddart Feb. 10, 1903 1,400,948 Florence Dec. 20, 1921 1,549,467 Dumond Aug. 11, 1925 2,171,054 Williams Aug. 29, 1939 2,558,596 Wassell June 26, 1951 2,759,611 Davis Aug. 21, 1956 2,968,363 Kinkaid Jan. 17, 1961 3,056,506 Fuller Oct. 2, 1962 

1. A ROTATABLE FILING UNIT COMPOSED OF A PLURALITY OF SEPARABLE COMPONENTS AND READILY ENGAGEABLE, COMPRISING A CIRCULAR BASE PLATE, A PLURALITY OF EQUI-ANGULARLY SPACED VERTICALLY DISPOSED RADIALLY EXTENDING TRUSS MEMBERS EACH COMPRISING A VERTICALLY DISPOSED LEG AND A ROLLER MOUNTED ON THE UPPER END OF EACH LEG, SAID ROLLERS COLLECTIVELY HORIZONTALLY SUPPORTING SAID BASE PLATE, MEANS FOR DRIVING AT LEAST ONE OF SAID ROLLER WHEREBY TO ROTATE SAID BASE PLATE, A PLURALITY OF EQUI-ANGULARLY SPACED VERTICALLY DISPOSED RADIALLY EXTENDING UPPER TRUSS MEMBERS, MEANS SECURING THE LATTER TO THE UPPER FACE OF SAID BASE PLATE, TIE MEMBERS SECURED TO AND EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID UPPER TRUSS MEMBERS, MEANS CARRIED BY THE ADJACENT INNER TERMINAL END PORTIONS OF THE UPPER TRUSS MEMBERS ENGAGED WITH COMPANION MEANS CARRIED BY THE ADJACENT INNER TERMINAL ENDS OF THE LOWER TRUSS MEMBERS RETAINING SAID TRUSS ASSEMBLIES IN AXIAL ALIGNMENT, THE OUTER DEFINES OF THE TIE MEMBERS FOR SAID UPPER TRUSS MEMBERS BEING ADAPTED TO SUPPORT RADIALLY EXTENDING RECORD FILING RECEPTABLES. 